Waikiki Circle Hotel

The Waikiki Circle Hotel is instantly recognizable by its fourteen-story cylindrical tower, a concrete silhouette that stands in defiance of the surrounding rectangular high-rises. Completed in nineteen sixty-three, the building occupies a remarkably small footprint on Kalākaua Avenue, forcing its architect, Leon Noe, to build upward rather than outward. The curved walls of the guest rooms eliminate corners entirely, creating a flow of space that directs the eye toward the floor-to-ceiling windows and the Pacific Ocean just across the street.